Wildcats pound out 35 runs in sweep of Anderson County

Louisburg junior Declan Battle was all smiles and celebrates with teammates Nathaniel Lamm (left) and Brody McGreer after scoring one of the Wildcats’ 35 runs Thursday at home against Anderson County.

The Louisburg bats continued its torrid stretch Thursday in its home doubleheader against Anderson County.

After scoring 31 runs the week prior against Osawatomie, the Wildcats followed it up with 35 runs against the Bulldogs in their two games. Louisburg jumped out to early leads and secured a pair of 15-2 and 20-12 victories at Lewis-Young Park.

“The guys played really well all night,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “They were locked in from the first pitch. They’ve been having great approaches at the plate and that’s led to really good team at bats. We’re really starting to play some good baseball all around.”

Louisburg (11-5) had to deal with a little adversity in the first game as starting pitcher Corbin Hamman had to leave the game after getting hit in the hand. Sophomore Alex Saad came in for relief as he gave up one earned run and struck out five.

The Wildcat bats took care of the rest.

Louisburg, which had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the second inning, scored five runs in the second, three in the third and five more in the fourth to complete the run-rule win.

The top of the Wildcat order got things started. 

Junior Declan Battle recorded three hits — which included a double and a triple — and scored four times, along with an RBI.

Sophomore Luke Schultz and junior Nathaniel Lamm also swung the bat well and both had 4 RBIs. Schultz and Lamm each had two hits, that included a triple from Schultz and a double from Lamm.

Junior Brody McGreer also did some damage from the bottom of the order as he had three hits, three runs scored and had an RBI. Danny Napier, Hamman and Jackson Howard all drove home a run.

In the nightcap, Louisburg once again got out to a great start as it scored all 20 of its runs in the first four innings. The Wildcats took an 8-1 lead after two innings, and then proceeded to score three in the third and nine in the fourth.

Anderson County kept the game alive with five runs in the fifth, but the Wildcats’ 8-run lead at the time was all they needed to pull off the sweep.

Battle stayed hot in the second game as he tallied three more hits, including a triple and scored four more times.

Napier and Howard drove in a bulk of the Wildcats’ runs as they each had five RBIs. Howard finished with three hits, including two doubles and walked twice.

As for Napier, he also tallied three hits. His biggest came by virtue of the long ball as he hit a 3-run home run, and he also finished with a double.

Schultz and freshman Bristol Barbour each had a pair of hits and two RBIs, while Lamm tallied three hits and scored four times. McGreer and junior Jack Anderson also drove home a run.

Schultz, Barbour and Battle combined to get the win for Louisburg on the mound.

Louisburg will try and keep its four-game winning streak going Tuesday as the Wildcats travel to Eudora for a doubleheader. It’s two of the final four games on the Wildcats’ schedule and Larson realizes his team needs to finish strong heading into the postseason.

“Continuing to play well in these last four games heading into the postseason will be huge for us,” Larson said. “The more we can play every game at a high level, the better prepared we will be come playoff time.”